The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head, a liquid ejecting apparatus, using the liquid ejecting head and a liquid ejection method, wherein desired liquid is ejected by generation of the bubble by applying thermal energy to the liquid.
More particularly, it relates to a liquid ejecting head having a movable member movable by generation of a bubble, and a head cartridge using the liquid ejecting head, and liquid ejecting device using the same. It further relates to a liquid ejecting method and recording method for ejection the liquid by moving the movable member using the generation of the bubble.
The present invention is applicable to equipment such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine having a communication system, a word processor having a printer portion or the like, and an industrial recording device combined with various processing device or processing devices, in which the recording is effected on a recording material such as paper, thread, fiber, textile, leather, metal, plastic resin material, glass, wood, ceramic and so on.
In this specification, xe2x80x9crecordingxe2x80x9d means not only forming an image of letter, figure or the like having specific meanings, but also includes forming an image of a pattern not having a specific meaning.
An ink jet recording method of so-called bubble jet type is known in which an instantaneous state change resulting in an instantaneous volume change (bubble generation) is caused by application of energy such as heat to the ink, so as to eject the ink through the ejection outlet by the force resulted from the state change by which the ink is ejected to and deposited on the recording material to form an image formation. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,129, a recording device using the bubble jet recording method comprises an ejection outlet for ejecting the ink, an ink flow path in fluid communication with the ejection outlet, and an electrothermal transducer as energy generating means disposed in the ink flow path.
With such a recording method is advantageous in that, a high quality image, can be recorded at high speed and with low noise, and a plurality of such ejection outlets can be posited at high density, and therefore, small size recording apparatus capable of providing a high resolution can be provided, and color images can be easily formed. Therefore, the bubble jet recording method is now widely used in printers, copying machines, facsimile machines or another office equipment, and for industrial systems such as textile printing device or the like.
With the increase of the wide needs for the bubble jet technique, various demands are imposed thereon, recently.
For example, an improvement in energy use efficiency is demanded. To meet the demand, the optimization of the heat generating element such as adjustment of the thickness of the protecting film is investigated. This method is effective in that a propagation efficiency of the generated heat to the liquid is improved.
In order to provide high image quality images, driving conditions have been proposed by which the ink ejection speed is increased, and/or the bubble generation is stabilized to accomplish better ink ejection. As another example, from the standpoint of increasing the recording speed, flow passage configuration improvements have been proposed by which the speed of liquid filling (refilling) into the liquid flow path is increased.
Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. SHO-63-199972 or the like discloses a flow passage structure as shown in FIG. 45, (a), (b). The invention of the flow passage structure and the head manufacturing method disclosed in the publication, is particularly directed to the backward liquid generated in accordance with generation of a bubble (the pressure propagated away from the ejection outlet namely toward the liquid chamber 12). The back wave is known as energy loss since it is not propagated toward the ejection direction.
FIG. 61, (a) and (b) disclose a valve 10 spaced from a generating region of the bubble generated by the heat generating element 2 in a direction away from the ejection outlet 11.
In FIG. 61, (b), this valve 10, is so manufactured from a plate that it has an initial position where it looks as if it stick on the ceiling of the flow path 3, and is deflected downward into the flow path 3 upon the generation of the bubble. Thus, the energy loss is suppressed by controlling a part of the backward wave by the valve 10.
However, with this structure, if the consideration is made as to the time when the bubble is generated in the flow path 3 having the liquid to be ejected, the suppression of a part of the backward wave by the valve 10 is not desirable.
The backward wave per se is not contributable to the ejection. At the time when the backward wave is generated inside the flow path 3, the pressure directly contributable to the ejection has already make the liquid ejectable from the flow path 3, as shown in FIG. 61, (a). Therefore, even if the backward wave is suppressed, the ejection is not significantly influenced, much less even if a part thereof is suppressed.
On the other hand, in the bubble jet recording method, the heating is repeated with the heat generating element contacted with the ink, and therefore, a burnt material is deposited on the surface of the heat generating element due to burnt deposit of the ink. However, the amount of the deposition may be large depending on the materials of the ink. If this occurs, the ink ejection becomes unstable. Even when it the liquid to be ejected is easily deteriorated by the heat, or is not sufficiently formed into a bubble, the liquid is desirably ejected without deterioration of the liquid.
From this standpoint, Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. SHO-61-69467, Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. SHO-55-81172 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,259 disclose that different liquids are used for the liquid generating the bubble by the heat (bubble generating liquid) and for the liquid to be ejected (ejection liquid). In these publications, the ink as the ejection liquid and the bubble generation liquid are completely separated by a flexible film of silicone rubber or the like so as to prevent direct contact of the ejection liquid to the heat generating element while propagating the pressure resulting from the bubble generation of the bubble generation liquid to the ejection liquid by the deformation of the flexible film. The prevention of the deposition of the material on the surface of the heat generating element and the increase of the selection latitude of the ejection liquid are accomplished, by such a structure.
However, with this structure in which the ejection liquid and the bubble generation liquid are completely separated, the pressure by the bubble generation is propagated to the ejection liquid through the expansion-contraction deformation of the flexible film, and therefore, the pressure is absorbed by the flexible film to quite a high degree. In addition, the deformation of the flexible film is not so large, and therefore, the energy use efficiency and the ejection force are deteriorated although the some effect is provided by the provision between the ejection liquid and the bubble generation liquid.
Furthermore, it has been found that consideration is to be preferably made to the heat generating region for forming the bubble, for example, the structural elements such as a movable member or a liquid flow path influential to the growth of the bubble downstream of the center line passing through the center of the area of the electrothermal transducer with respect to the flow direction of the liquid or downstream of the center of the area in the surface influential to the bubble generation.
As to such technique, the assignee of this application has filed Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei-7-4109.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a liquid ejection method and apparatus, wherein a pressure of the liquid is more efficiently applied to the movable member so that ejection amount and an ejection speed of the liquid are further stabilized, and the control property of the ejection amount of the liquid is further improved.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus and a liquid ejecting method wherein heat accumulation of the liquid on the heat generating element is significantly reduced while the ejection efficiency and the ejection pressure are improved, and satisfactory ejection of the liquid is carried out by reduction of the residual bubble on the heat generating element.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a liquid ejecting method and a liquid ejecting apparatus wherein inertia of the liquid in a direction opposite from the liquid supply direction due to backward wave is suppressed, and simultaneously, the meniscus retraction is reduced by a valve function of the movable member so that refiling frequency is increased to improve the printing speed or the like.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus and a liquid ejection method wherein an amount of accumulated material on the heat generating element is reduced, and the ejection efficiency and the ejection power are high enough with wider range of usable ejection liquid.
It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus and a liquid ejecting method wherein the liquid to be ejected can be selected from a wide range.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: preparing a head comprising an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid, a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid, a movable member disposed faced to the bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from the bubble generation region than the first position; displacing the movable member from the first position to the second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble in the bubble generating portion to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side; supplying, to a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generating region, a driving pulse divided into a first pulse and an adjacent second pulse with interval time therebetween; pre-heating the liquid by the first pulse to an extent not enough to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; generating a bubble by heating the liquid by the second pulse to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; controlling a degree of pre-heating of the liquid by changing at least one of a pulse width of the first pulse or the interval time.
According to anther aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: supplying liquid along a heat generating element disposed along a flow path from upstream of the heat generating element; and applying heat generated by the heat generating element to the thus supplied liquid to generate a bubble, thus moving a free end of a movable member having the free end adjacent the ejection outlet side by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, the movable member being disposed faced to the heat generating element; supplying, to a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generating region, a driving pulse divided into a first pulse and an adjacent second pulse with interval time therebetween; pre-heating the liquid by the first pulse to an extent not enough to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; generating a bubble by heating the liquid by the second pulse to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; controlling a degree of pre-heating of the liquid by changing at least one of a pulse width of the first pulse or the interval time.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: preparing a head including a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet, a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between the first liquid flow path and the bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side; generating a bubble in the bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into the first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of the first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid; supplying, to a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generating region, a driving pulse divided into a first pulse and an adjacent second pulse with interval time therebetween; pre-heating the liquid by the first pulse to an extent not enough to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; generating a bubble by heating the liquid by the second pulse to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; controlling a degree of pre-heating of the liquid by changing at least one of a pulse width of the first pulse or the interval time.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a head comprising an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid, a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid, a movable member disposed faced to the bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from the bubble generation region than the first position; wherein the movable member is displaced from the first position to the second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble in the bubble generating portion to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection; means for supplying, to a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generating region, a driving pulse divided into a first pulse and an adjacent second pulse with interval time therebetween, thus pre-heating the liquid by the first pulse to an extent not enough to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet, and thus generating a bubble by heating the liquid by the second pulse to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; control means for controlling a degree of pre-heating of the liquid by changing at least one of a pulse width of the first pulse or the interval time.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: a liquid ejection head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a heat generating element for generating the bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid; a liquid flow path having a supply passage for supplying the liquid to the heat generating element from upstream thereof; and a movable member disposed faced to the heat generating element and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet, the free end of the movable member being moved by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to guide the pressure toward the ejection outlet; means for supplying, to a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generating region, a driving pulse divided into a first pulse and an adjacent second pulse with interval time therebetween, thus pre-heating the liquid by the first pulse to an extent not enough to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet, and thus generating a bubble by heating the liquid by the second pulse to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; control means for controlling a degree of pre-heating of the liquid by changing at least one of a pulse width of the first pulse or the interval time.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejection head including a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet, a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between the first liquid flow path and the bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side; wherein a bubble is generated in the bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into the first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of the first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid; means for supplying, to a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generating region, a driving pulse divided into a first pulse and an adjacent second pulse with interval time therebetween, thus pre-heating the liquid by the first pulse to an extent not enough to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet, and thus generating a bubble by heating the liquid by the second pulse to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; control means for controlling a degree of pre-heating of the liquid by changing at least one of a pulse width of the first pulse or the interval time.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection head for ejecting liquid by generation of bubble, comprising: an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid; a movable member disposed faced to the bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from the bubble generation region than the first position; wherein the movable member moves from the first position to the second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side; a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection head, comprising: an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a heat generating element for generating the bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid; a liquid flow path having a supply passage for supplying the liquid to the heat generating element from upstream thereof; and a movable member disposed faced to the heat generating element and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet, the free end of the movable member being moved by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to guide the pressure toward the ejection outlet; and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection head comprising: a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet; a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between the first liquid flow path and the bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side; wherein a bubble is generated in the bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into the first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of the first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid; and a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: preparing a liquid ejecting head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid; a movable member disposed faced to the bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from the bubble generation region than the first position; wherein the movable member moves from the first position to the second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side; a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid; controlling a pulse width of the driving pulse for the heat generating element in accordance with an output of the detecting means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: preparing a liquid ejection head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a heat generating element for generating the bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid; a liquid flow path having a supply passage for supplying the liquid to the heat generating element from upstream thereof; and a movable member disposed faced to the heat generating element and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet, the free end of the movable member being moved by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to guide the pressure toward the ejection outlet; and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid; controlling a pulse width of the driving pulse for the heat generating element in accordance with an output of the detecting means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: providing a liquid ejection head including a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet, a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between the first liquid flow path and the bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side; wherein a bubble is generated in the bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into the first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of the first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid; a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid; controlling a pulse width of the driving pulse for the heat generating element in accordance with an output of the detecting means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: preparing a liquid ejecting head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid; a movable member disposed faced to the bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from the bubble generation region than the first position; wherein the movable member moves from the first position to the second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side; a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid; predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid on the basis of a frequency of ejecting operations of the liquid; controlling the pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of the predicted amount.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: preparing a liquid ejection head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a heat generating element for generating the bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid; a liquid flow path having a supply passage for supplying the liquid to the heat generating element from upstream thereof; and a movable member disposed faced to the heat generating element and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet, the free end of the movable member being moved by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to guide the pressure toward the ejection outlet; and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid; predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid on the basis of a frequency of ejecting operations of the liquid; controlling the pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of the predicted amount.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: preparing a liquid ejection head including a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet, a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between the first liquid flow path and the bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side; wherein a bubble is generated in the bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into the first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of the first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid; a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid; predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid on the basis of a frequency of ejecting operations of the liquid; controlling the pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of the predicted amount.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: preparing a head including a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet, a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between the first liquid flow path and the bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side; a heat generating element for applying heat to the bubble generation region upon application of a driving pulse thereto, wherein a bubble is generated in the bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into the first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of the first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid; the head including detecting means for detection of a state quantity, influential to an amount of the ejection, of the liquid in one of the first and second liquid passage; predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to the ejection of the liquid in the other of the first and second liquid passages on the basis of an output of the detecting means; control a pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of the predicted amount and the output.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejecting head including: an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid; a movable member disposed faced to the bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from the bubble generation region than the first position; wherein the movable member moves from the first position to the second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side; a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid; control means for controlling the pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of an output of the detecting means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejection head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a heat generating element for generating the bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid; a liquid flow path having a supply passage for supplying the liquid to the heat generating element from upstream thereof; and a movable member disposed faced to the heat generating element and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet, the free end of the movable member being moved by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to guide the pressure toward the ejection outlet; and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid; control means for controlling the pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of an output of the detecting means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejection head including a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet, a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between the first liquid flow path and the bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side; wherein a bubble is generated in the bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into the first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of the first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid; a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid; control means for controlling the pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of an output of the detecting means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejection method, comprising: a liquid ejecting head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid; a movable member disposed faced to the bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from the bubble generation region than the first position; wherein the movable member moves from the first position to the second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side; and a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; and predicting means for predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid on the basis of a frequency of ejecting operations of the liquid; control means for controlling a pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of an output of the predicting means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejection head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid; a heat generating element for generating the bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid; a liquid flow path having a supply passage for supplying the liquid to the heat generating element from upstream thereof; and a movable member disposed faced to the heat generating element and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet, the free end of the movable member being moved by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to guide the pressure toward the ejection outlet; predicting means for predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid on the basis of a frequency of ejecting operations of the liquid; and control means for controlling a pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of an output of the predicting means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejection head including a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet, a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between the first liquid flow path and the bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side; wherein a bubble is generated in the bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into the first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of the first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid; a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse; predicting means for predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid on the basis of a frequency of ejecting operations of the liquid; and control means for controlling a pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of an output of the predicting means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus comprising: a liquid ejection head including a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet, a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between the first liquid flow path and the bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side; a heat generating element for applying heat to the bubble generation region upon application of a driving pulse thereto, wherein a bubble is generated in the bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into the first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of the first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid; the head including detecting means for detection of a state quantity, influential to an amount of the ejection, of the liquid in one of the first and second liquid passage; predicting means for predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to the ejection of the liquid in the other of the first and second liquid passages on the basis of an output of the detecting means; means for controlling pulse width of a driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of the predicted amount and the output.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejecting head including a plurality of ejection outlets for ejecting liquid, liquid flow paths in fluid communication with respective ejection outlets, a bubble generating region, in the liquid flow path, having a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid, and a movable member faced to the bubble generating region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet; selecting means for selection a kind of driving signals to be supplied to respective heat generating elements or to groups of the heat generating elements, from a plurality of kinds of driving signals.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording system comprising: a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejecting head including a plurality of ejection outlets for ejecting liquid, liquid flow paths in fluid communication with respective ejection outlets, a bubble generating region, in the liquid flow path, having a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid, and a movable member faced to the bubble generating region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet; and a post-processing device for promoting fixing of the liquid on the recording material after the ejection of the liquid.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording system comprising: a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejecting head including a plurality of ejection outlets for ejecting liquid, liquid flow paths in fluid communication with respective ejection outlets, a bubble generating region, in the liquid flow path, having a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid, and a movable member faced to the bubble generating region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet; and a pre-processing device for promoting fixing of the liquid on the recording material after the ejection of the liquid.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method comprising: preparing a liquid ejection apparatus including a liquid ejecting head including a plurality of ejection outlets for ejecting liquid, liquid flow paths in fluid communication with respective ejection outlets, a bubble generating region, in the liquid flow path, having a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid, and a movable member faced to the bubble generating region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet; and selecting a kind of driving signals to be supplied to respective heat generating elements or to groups of the heat generating elements, from a plurality of kinds of driving signals, so as to generate a bubble in the bubble generating region.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection method, comprising: a liquid ejection method, comprising: preparing a head comprising an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid, a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid, a movable member disposed faced to the bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from the bubble generation region than the first position; displacing the movable member from the first position to the second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble in the bubble generating portion to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side; supplying, to a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to the bubble generating region, a driving pulse divided into a first pulse and an adjacent second pulse with interval time therebetween; pre-heating the liquid by the first pulse to an extent not enough to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; generating a bubble by heating the liquid by the second pulse to eject the liquid through the ejection outlet; controlling a degree of pre-heating of the liquid by changing at least one of a pulse width of the first pulse or the interval time, so as to eject the liquid by using such a property that change rate of the ejection amount of the liquid gradually increases with increase of the pulse width of the first pulse or increase of the interval time period.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a synergistic effect of the generated bubble and the movable member moved thereby, can be provided such that liquid at the neighborhood of the ejection outlet can be efficiently ejected, and therefore, the ejection efficiency is higher than in the conventional bubble jet type ejection method, head and the like.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the density non-uniformity can be corrected more than in conventional since the range of correction of the ejection amount is wider. Therefore, the liquid can be properly ejected.
In this specification, xe2x80x9cupstreamxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdownstreamxe2x80x9d are defined with respect to a general liquid flow from a liquid supply source to the ejection outlet through the bubble generation region (movable member).
As regards the bubble per se, the xe2x80x9cdownstreamxe2x80x9d is defined as toward the ejection outlet side of the bubble which directly function to eject the liquid droplet. More particularly, it generally means a downstream from the center of the bubble with respect to the direction of the general liquid flow, or a downstream from the center of the area of the heat generating element with respect to the same.
In this specification, xe2x80x9csubstantially sealedxe2x80x9d generally means a sealed state in such a degree that when the bubble grows, the bubble does not escape through a gap (slit) around the movable member before motion of the movable member.
In this specification, xe2x80x9cseparation wallxe2x80x9d may mean a wall (which may include the movable member) interposed to separate the region in direct fluid communication with the ejection outlet from the bubble generation region, and more specifically means a wall separating the flow path including the bubble generation region from the liquid flow path in direct fluid communication with the ejection outlet, thus preventing mixture of the liquids in the liquid flow paths.